The European Challenge Tour returns to British soil for the Bridgestone Challenge at Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf and Spa this week. Here are five key facts before the golf gets under way on the parkland layout.
Winners racing for top 15
Eleven 2018 Challenge Tour winners will tee it up at the Bridgestone Challenge, as they look to cement their place in the top 15 on the Road to Ras Al Khaimah.
Out of the 11 champions, Sebastian Soderberg, who won the Italian Challenge presented by Cashback World, is the highest ranked as he lies fifth in the Rankings with more than 100,000 points.
Sweden’s Oscar Lengden, winner of the 2017 Bridgestone Challenge, triumphed at the start of the season in Spain and sits just inside the top 15.
Bridgestone hat-trick
It will be the third edition of the Bridgestone Challenge after it made its debut appearance on the Challenge Tour’s International Schedule in 2016.
The event will make its second successive appearance at Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf and Spa, where Lengden reigned victorious 12 months ago.
Belgian Thomas Detry won the first Bridgestone Challenge with his 12-shot victory at Heythrop Park Resort on his way to graduating to the European Tour at the end of the 2016 season.
Scores go low at Bridgestone
The Bridgestone Challenge produces eye-catching golf, irrelevant of which format the players face. Last year saw a final day round of 62, nine under par, by Lengden on his way to glory, which included a 30-foot eagle putt on the par four 18that Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf and Spa.
The previous year, Detry shot rounds of 60-67-69-63 to claim a 12-shot victory, during a week when he made 32 birdies and shattered the course-record at Heythrop Park Resort on the opening day.
Change of challenge for Bridgestone
Last season saw the event break new territory as the Bridgestone Challenge became the first Challenge Tour event to use a modified stableford format.
In 2018, the format returns to stroke play, where the best players from Europe’s top developmental tour will battle it out over four days, 72 holes, at the Luton Hoo Hotel, Gold and Spa Championship Course.
Hospitable Hoo
Luton Hoo Hotel, Golf and Spa will host the Bridgestone Challenge for a second successive season.
Set in the Bedfordshire countryside, the Championship Course is located in the grounds of the Grade I listed Luton Hoo estate, which had previously been home to a nine-hole course but following the construction of the 18-hole course has since hosted Jamega Pro Golf Tour and EuroPro Tour events ahead of the Challenge Tour last season.
